Stubborn? You Have No Idea
by A Tengu Reporter
Summary: He keeps inching closer, she keeps edging away. She was her interest, and he was someone she'd rather push off a cliff. Neither side is willing to give in, but deep inside, she knew it was a losing battle.


**Stubborn? You Don't Even Know**

**Chapter One: Of Letters and Surprise Visits  
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><p>Being where I am now for nearly two years, I've accepted a lot of things.<p>

First, I've accepted that I'm never going to be able to leave this dull monotony of farming day in and day out. As if there was anything else to do in this valley other than that and socializing, anyway. I knew I sucked at that last one, even though I've managed to crawl my way into the locals. They now recognized me as Claire, not "that farmer girl". Hurrah.

Second, I knew that I wasn't going to be seeing the city – or even my hometown – for a long, long time. I wasn't supposed to be the person who should be running this, by the way. It was only because of some undesirable circumstances that led to me grudgingly accepting this farm as my new home (and no, I do _not_ want to bother discussing the how's and why's right now). The thought of it still stung me even after this whole period of time.

Third, love flourishing in this place was most definitely impossible. I had no idea if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but so far, I was content with living the single life. The other girls in the valley can go claim their love interests for all I care. It's not like I was someone the guys would come to like, anyway, with someone they already know pretty well right at their sides. All they needed was a blue feather to seal the deal, I guess.

And lastly, there wasn't anything that would surprise me anymore after last year's encounters. Most especially the tons of stuff I had to get used to. Gee, after discovering a witch living unnoticed among the people in the valley, and getting involved in this whole rescue-the-Harvest-Goddess-from-another-world biz, what _would_ knock me off my feet now (And on another note, the year following that had been surprisingly normal, as if the previous one never happened)?

Surprise, surprise. Apparently, there was still one thing that could do that.

And that one thing involved a certain silver-haired guy.

It all started in the early morning, where, as usual, my alarm clock rang – more like screeched – at the same freaking time ever since I moved here: six in the morning. I had gotten up in my usual groggy manner, proceeding zombie-like to do the same morning rituals of bathing myself and brushing my teeth and later brushing my hair… and of course, dressing up in my god awful overalls and nearly-decent orange checkered, collared shirt. It was so damn hard to get a hold of better clothes in a place practically separated from the rest of civilization, so I had no choice but to get used to the attire. And I didn't have enough money to purchase other clothes anyway, aside from winter wear for seasons like this. So.

But yeah, it was when I was preparing a simple breakfast that instantly got me out of my temporary trance. I had been cooking porridge (warm food on a cold, winter day feels awesomely good), and as I helped myself to a bowlful, proceeding to the table, I noticed something on top of it. Usually it was devoid of anything but a table cloth, but this time, there was something placed on top of it. It was something… white, and rectangular.

Looking suspicious, I neared the table, gently dropped my bowl on top of it, and picked up the mystery object. I realized it was a sheet of paper folded neatly. And I mean, very neatly, as in, totally symmetrical folds. With that, I realized it was a letter. But from who, exactly? I raised my eyebrows as I noticed that there was no indication of any sender or whatever, flipping the letter. Mysterious.

My eyes widened as the gears in my mind turned. Whoa.

Then it clicked. No one ever tried entering my house without me knowing. I always locked the door every time I slept at night, and even then, nobody was stupid enough to sneak in a house of a person who could really give it to them once they were caught… unless they wanted to sport a black eye the next day. That led me to only one conclusion.

There was only one person in this entire valley who was an expert in slipping in and out without ever getting discovered: Skye.

Yep. Skye, the so-called "Prince of the stars", with his silver (dyed or natural?) hair and sky-blue eyes. With a weird fashion sense, I almost forgot to add. And I was his unfortunate person of interest.

My face formed itself into a grimace. Oh come on, _why him?_ Why not a letter from back home?

Reluctantly, I unfolded the paper and read the contents. Boy, did it piss me off.

_My dear Claire,_

_How have you been? It has been quite a while since we last met. I bet you're still as beautiful as I last remembered. Radiant, even. You don't need to ask about me; I'm doing fine, the usual. Your absences during my nightly visits are what I missed the most, though._

_Speaking of meeting you again, I have just the thing that could make that happen. Tomorrow night happens to be the time when the Starry Night festival would occur. I know you're most familiar with the event. And I know that you don't have anyone to spend it with. So, I'll be meeting you by your doorstep tomorrow at six in the evening. Don't worry about the food, since I'll be the one taking care of it._

_Looking forward to seeing you soon,_

_Phantom Skye_

My eye twitched as I finished reading the whole thing. Okay, so maybe I wasn't just pissed. I was creeped out. Why had the fact that I did not want him in my life not come through his thick skull? Was there something I did wrong to deserve this, aside from making my existence known? He wouldn't just leave me alone, ever since that accidental meeting last year at Lumina's home. Plus he was so unbearable each time I saw him! Goddess, I've never met any other man who'd sweet-talk as often as him – and if I did, I'd have to make sure he never produced children.

While the option of getting the guy caught and dealt with occasionally crossed my mind, somehow, I never got around to doing that. I didn't know why that always happened, and whenever I thought about it, I always drew a huge blank. Damn his charms.

Glaring at the legibly hand-written contents of the letter, I wondered what a good reply was to this when I saw him again. Should I smack this paper to his face? Or should I crumple this thing into a ball, and _then_ throw it in his face? I wish I could do both. Shame it was just a one-page letter.

Wait, scratch that. Maybe I should just strangle him, push him off a cliff, and go on merrily with a Skye-absent life. Ooh, that sounded nice.

From the corner of my eye, smoke from my hot porridge was rising up in the air. That had quickly reminded me of my breakfast, and because there was no way I wanted it cold, I tried to shove the thoughts of Skye further inside my mind. And to help speed up the process, I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. It was too early in the morning to be worrying (or getting mad over) of stuff like that, and only the Goddess knew how much I needed some peace and quiet. At least, that was what I kept telling myself.

Feeling calm enough, I sat down, took a spoonful of the stuff, and nearly flinched as it made contact with my tongue. My hand gripped the spoon tighter than usual as I felt my tongue slowly feeling kind of rough. Damn, I knew it was hot, but I didn't know it was _that_ hot.

But then I grinned. I didn't do so badly on this one! For once, I actually managed to make it taste like real food, unlike the usual where I didn't mean to make my meals as tasty as cardboard.

I let the meal cool a bit more – and it didn't take so long with the low temperature winter provided – before shoving more spoonfuls of the porridge in my mouth. And it was there that Skye didn't bother me so much anymore as he had in the beginning.

The rest of the morning after that little highlight was surprisingly boring, aside from suffering from a slightly-burnt tongue. Usually, I would've gone harvesting or watering the crops and that would usually kill the time. Okay, it would kill the whole morning and afternoon, leaving me to a nonexistent social life – which I hardly care about, by the way. But anyway, farming was obviously impossible to do on a snow-covered field. And the crops wouldn't grow, duh.

I'd do that basement-thingy I've read somewhere, where it involved having these magical stones that would imitate the effects of the four seasons and a basement (or underground area) where the crops would be placed – and in the process earn myself another farm area located conveniently on my basement. Yeah, I thought that was bullshit after reading more of the topic. But even if such a stone existed, I'd have to sell my house to get enough money to get one. Never mind, I'd decided.

Right.

So because I didn't want to bother going out and socializing much with the other people because I was sure they'd be busy preparing for tomorrow night, I decided to just sit at my bed, Indian-style, and read a romance novel. While I wished that it was some epically awesome book that would be a bestseller, it wasn't. In fact, it was so ridden with clichés that I should just put the book down and never pick it up again. But then, this was the only other book I'd found in a dusty old drawer last year.

Have I mentioned that this was the fifth time I was reading this book?

I'd order a set of what I loved to read back when I was in the city, but obviously, that was impossible because the next best things were found in the library at a nearby place called Mineral Town. And it would be a dragging process of borrowing and returning a book each and every time I fancied reading something. Not to mention tiring.

I was nearing the climax of the story when I suddenly heard banging sounds on my door. I sighed, disappointed that I wouldn't be able to read the climax at once. Oh, come on. I was getting to the good part! Or as good a part this book could get, yeah. But still.

I think I must've opened the door a little too forcefully – and I might have been glaring at the unwanted visitor because the person in front of me nearly took a step back.

And then I realized who the person was. My blue eyes grew a bit wider, more surprised than angry.

"Um, you need something, Muffy?" I asked.

Muffy. That was the woman in front of me. We were both the same height, with the same color of hair – blond, but that was as far as our similarities went. She had her wavy hair and green eyes that set her apart from some of the people in this valley, while I had my boring blue ones, which definitely screamed "stereotypical" when combined with my straight blond hair. Plus she still had her fair skin tone, a far cry from my slightly-tanned one. Being a farmer required spending too much time out in the sun.

"Claire!" She recovered quickly from her momentary shock, my question ignored, and I instantly found myself in a tight hug. I had to resist gasping as she released me so as not to offend her.

What the hell?

I mean, sure, getting a hug from my best friend made me feel warm and fuzzy inside each and every time. I wasn't some unfeeling bitch. But when it was done out of the blue, and in front of my doorstep for some unknown reason… well, wouldn't that be weird, or creepy? Man, what was up with today?

Muffy's smile grew wider as soon as she saw my puzzled face.

"Claire, you won't believe what happened to me this morning!" She then put a hand over her mouth to muffle a squeal. This was saying something, because usually, she could contain herself. She was also usually mature, but right now I was seeing a resemblance of a typical crushing schoolgirl, not the mature, calm (and slightly self-conscious) woman.

"Alright, spill," I told her. Her emotions were so contagious; I suddenly found a smile creeping to my face.

But I only got a strong tug of my arm in reply, which nearly caused me to stumble.

"Hey!" I protested.

"Just come with me to the bar! You'll find out there," she told me in what seemed to be a hurried voice, and because she was giving me a look that resembled a puppy looking for its mommy, I had no choice but to agree. I admit wholeheartedly that I was weak.

"Okay, okay! But let me grab my key and lock the door first." I then tried to pull my arm free from her grasp to get the door key. Apparently, she didn't want me to, because she merely tightened her grip. It wasn't tight enough to bruise or hurt, but the fact that she felt really urgent about the matter surprised me. In fact, she made it seem like it was more important than the ensuring security of my home. I gave her a questioning glance.

She shook her head. "It's not like someone would take something inside your house. I mean no offense, but there isn't exactly anything worth stealing in it."

The argument that Skye could target my house next dried off in my mouth. Talk about "ouch".

I stared at her in disbelief.

"Well, it's true," she then said matter-of-factly, and as she realized that time was ticking, she added, "And come on, we're wasting time!" This time, Muffy really did drag me, and if I hadn't been able to think fast, I might've not grabbed the door knob as we headed out, pulling the door to a close. I wouldn't have to scream for Takakura to close the door for me at least. If he was still at his house.

This was really a weird morning. First, I got a freakish letter from the guy I wanted to avoid. And second, my best friend was dragging me away from my house because of reasons she wouldn't tell me until we got to her place. If there was anything weirder than this one, I would happily declare that a volcano has frozen over. I didn't know if this was the start of very interesting things to come, but still, I was sure the time after today was going to be one hell of a ride.

I gave my house one last helpless look as it slowly slid away from view.

This had better be good.

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><p><strong>AN: **Okay, so I tweaked this one a little bit more. You awesome people who I've PM'ed should already know the reason. But hey, I'll explain it simply, since new readers may have been feeling confused: The last one (the original story) wasn't exactly... good, and because I was not satisfied with the previous story, I decided on deleting the last one and making this new one. Hopefully this new story was an improvement over the previous one. Right. And the fact that the next update may take a while still holds the same; college is a bitch who kills my free time.

Same thing, people! Feedback is appreciated, and flames boost my review count. Thank you~


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